Steven Tyler says he still loves Aerosmith like a child, as he releases his debut solo album
Tyler’s been rocking for almost five decades now, but he’s gone a little country on his first solo album
He’s led the bad-boy rock band Aerosmith for decades, written a book, learned to parasail, and is the father of four children. But Steven Tyler had at least one more goal before hitting 70: his first solo album.
“I just thought, ‘Instead of [an] Aerosmith album, why don’t I just write something here and see what I get?”’ Tyler says by phone from his new home in Nashville, Tennessee. “It was something I’ve always wanted to do.”
“If I could achieve one thing,” he says, “it would be that I opened the door to country being allowed to rock a little bit more. As you know, no great story ever started off with ‘I had a salad last night’. It is sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.”
Tyler co-wrote the majority of the radio-friendly tunes, from the boot-stomping Sweet Louisiana to the unabashed flag-waving Red, White & You to the power ballad What Am I Doin’ Right? (The album also has two song covers – Piece of My Heart and his own Janie’s Got a Gun.)